ontario has prioritized vaccinations for people with disabilities — but being eligible isn’t enough to make sure they are vaccinated, says a report from the province’s covid-19 science advisory table.
one in five ontario residents has a physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment, increasing to 40 per cent of people over the age of 65, said the report produced by an independent panel of scientific experts and health system leaders.
people with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by covid-19. they are more likely to be infected because they live in congregate settings such as group homes, require in-person care or have chronic health conditions, the report said.
they are also more likely to become seriously ill or die if infected. in the u.k., 59 per cent of covid-19 deaths were people with disabilities, even though only 17 per cent of the population has a disability.
at the same time, there is no publicly available data on covid-19 vaccination rates for people with disabilities at the ontario or public health unit level, the report said.
among the findings:
• a scan of websites for the province’s 34 public health units found that only one-third have some form of accessible format available on their websites, such as easy-to-read information about vaccines or a walking tour of the process. only nine per cent said sign language interpretation was available.